Blood Alcohol Monitoring
The latest tech blood alcohol content monitoring device is a wearable that Yahoo reports “from Milo Sensors can let you know when you’ve had one too many.” [1] The high-tech watch works by measuring the alcohol level in your perspiration.
1.800.NoCuffs Founding Attorney Darren Kavinoky says, “There’s already so much ‘junk science’ in the world of DUI enforcement that I’m skeptical of yet one more thing that doesn’t meet the scientific rigor we require in the court system. That said, as someone who is a proponent of anything that empowers people to have greater clarity in all of their personal decision making, anything that serves that end is worth considering, as a directional signal if nothing else.”
The cartridges inside the wrist wearable that allegedly reads your BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) need to be replaced every 12 hours and are disposable. This could be a drawback since remembering to refill or refresh the cartridge for accurate blood alcohol content monitoring could lead to user error.
The wearable device connects to an app on your phone that claims to tell you at what time you will sober up. “This potentially exposes the manufacturing company to liability,” says Kavinoky. “If I am a plaintiff’s attorney, and my client has been injured by or from driving under the influence when they were told by the wearable’s app they were sober, there’s no question I would file a case against the manufacturer. If the app says someone is good to drive after “X” number of hours and following that advice leads to someone being injured, as a plaintiff’s attorney, I would have a strong case against the maker of the app. Regardless of any disclaimers, personal injury attorneys tend to follow the, ‘sue them all and let G*d sort it out’ mentality and go after the deepest pockets.”
One feature that could be helpful on the phone app is the ability to send message notifications to your trusted friends, designated driver, and family members when your BAC rises. One could imagine many different circumstances in which this could be helpful.
Sources
1. Retrieved via Yahoo on January 30, 2017 via “Wristband monitors your blood alcohol content while you drink” https://www.yahoo.com/tech/wristband-monitors-blood-alcohol-content-201325865.html
